Smoking is
an addiction. Tobacco smoke contains nicotine, a drug that is addictive
and can make it very hard, but not impossible, to quit.

More than 400,000
deaths in the U.S. each year are from smoking-related illnesses. Smoking
greatly increases your risks for lung cancer and many other cancers.

Quitting smoking
makes a difference right away - you can taste and smell food better.
Your breath smells better. Your cough goes away. This happens for men
and women of all ages, even those who are older. It happens for healthy
people as well as those who already have a disease or condition caused
by smoking.

Quitting smoking
cuts the risk of lung cancer, many other cancers, heart disease, stroke,
other lung diseases, and other respiratory illnesses.

Ex-smokers
have better health than current smokers. Ex-smokers have fewer days
of illness, fewer health complaints, and less bronchitis and pneumonia
than current smokers.

Hurting Others

Smoking harms
not just the smoker, but also family members, coworkers and others who
breathe the smoker's cigarette smoke, called secondhand smoke.

Among infants
to 18 months of age, secondhand smoke is associated with as many as
300,000 cases of bronchitis and pneumonia each year.

If both parents
smoke, a teenager is more than twice as likely to smoke than a young
person whose parents are both non-smokers. In households where only
one parent smokes, young people are also more likely to start smoking.

Pregnant women
who smoke are more likely to deliver babies whose weights are too low
for the babies' good health. If all women quit smoking during pregnancy,
about 4,000 new babies would not die each year.

Saves Money

Quitting smoking
saves money. A smoker who smokes a pack a day ($3 per pack) can expect
to save more than $1000 per year. It appears that the price of cigarettes
will continue to rise in coming years, as will the financial rewards
of quitting.